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Thomas Elsaesser [with Warren Buckland], Studying Contemporary American Film (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) 309 pp. 

About the Book

How should the student set about analysing contemporary American cinema? This book takes an innovative approach to film analysis: each chapter examines the assumptions behind one traditional theory of film, distils a method of analysis from it, and then analyses a contemporary American movie. It then goes beyond the traditional theory by analysing the same movie using a more current theory and method.

Traditional theories featured include mise en scene criticism, auteurism, structural analysis, narratology, studies of realism, psychoanalysis, and feminism. More current theories include new and post-Lacanian approaches to subjectivity, cognitivism, computerised statistical style analysis, the philosophy of modal logic, new media theory, and deconstruction. Films analysed include Chinatown, Die Hard, The Silence of the Lambs, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Back to the Future, Lost Highway, plus two European imitations of American filmmaking, The English Patient and The Fifth Element. All students of film and popular culture will find this book ideal preparation for writing clear, well-structured, detailed analysis of their favourite American movies.
 

Synopsis

What are the most appropriate theories and methods for analysing contemporary American cinema? In this book Thomas Elsaesser and Warren Buckland answer this question by taking an innovative approach to writing about individual movies: in each of the main chapters they examine the assumptions behind one traditional theory of film, distil a method of analysis from it, and then analyse a contemporary American movie. They then go beyond the traditional theory by analysing the same movie using a more current theory and method. This book has identically structured, coherent chapters, which overcomes the dogmatism of subscribing to one theory and method, and instead encourages students to adopt a comparative, pluralistic approach to film analysis. The traditional theories include: mise en scene criticism, auteurism, structural analysis, narratology, studies of realism, psychoanalysis, and feminism. The more current theories include: new and post-Lacanian approaches to subjectivity, cognitivism, computerised statistical style analysis, the philosophy of modal logic, new media theory, and deconstruction. Films analysed include: "Chinatown", "Die Hard", "The Silence of the Lambs", "Pulp Fiction", "Back to the Future", "Seven", "Lost Highway", plus two European imitations of American filmmaking, "The English Patient" and "The Fifth Element". Finally, the authors address the issue of how to define classical and post-classical Hollywood cinemas, and also present students with a set of general procedures, strategies, and skills to write clear, well structured, and detailed analyses of their favourite American movies.

Reviews

From Film-Philosophy International Salon-Journal (Vol 8, No 42, Dec 2004) by Brian Butler

From Scope - An On-line Journal of Film Studies (Aug 2004) by Eugenie Brinkema

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